2007…my knitting year

Number of FOs for the year: 68. Wow. Actually, now that I think about it, I believe that number is a lot higher – I made a lot of small projects, especially gifts, in the past few weeks that I haven’t blogged about or photographed.Favourite thing I knit this year:

Central Park Hoodie, without a doubt. It got a lot of use while visiting Portland and is perfect for that weather – not too cold there. (here in MA, however…I got to experience my first below zero temperatures ever this week!) Anyway, Zonda asked me how Wool of the Andes was holding up and…well, it has gotten pretty pilly but I finally bought myself a sweater shaver & that tidied it right up. It’s not the softest yarn – I usually have a long sleeve top under it, but it actually doesn’t irritate my skin if I wear it on bare skin. It’s just not super soft. Anyway, it was my first major cabling project (that I finished, ahem) and it made me fall in love with cables. Now that’s all I want to do.

Least Favourite thing I knit this year: Probably Wicked. I just did not do a good job on it, I screwed up the pocket & it’s just awful all the way around. I rarely wear it – it’s short sleeved and wool, so it’s too hot to wear on it’s own in warm weather & I have to layer it in colder weather, but I don’t like how it looks. And I screwed up the cool ribbing on the neck. And…well I don’t like how I mixed the colours. I do wear it around the house once in awhile (it is very warm) but it’s not something I wear out. I did like the pattern, as well the other Zephyr girl patterns (I own the patterns for Rusted Root and Green Gable, and have some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece for both) and really, it was just my impatient knitting on it.

Favourite technique – Cabling of course, but I’m going to throw in sock construction too – this year I really fell in love with socks & sock yarn. I made several – I now have enough handknit socks to wear for a full week. Also, this has to do slightly with knitting, but I’m really proud of how well my photographs have turned out – this is due partly to a kick ass camera but also to tips from turtlegirl76 and indigomouse, among others. I only wish that I had a good place to photograph things here in MA – I really miss my big covered porch in OR. I think that’s the main reason I haven’t photographed a lot of my FOs & yarn purchases of late – not to mention being away from home during the short daylight hours.

Favourite yarn: So many. This was the year I went nuts with different fibers – I’m a sucker for any kind of “unusual” fibers – soy, bamboo, hemp, linen, silk – mostly because of my favourite knitting book of the year, No Sheep For You. It made a nice change from my usual wool & cotton choices. Not to mention organic cotton & wools I’ve discovered as well. I also got really in to handpainted yarns from indie dyers – I can thank Lime & Violet, etsy, Ravelry, and the many bloggers I read for that. I have such a large stash…actually it kind of stresses me out because I really want to knit with EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW. Ahem. Anyway, some of my favourites – (Ravelry links) Alpaca with a Twist Highlander (my Panta), Ashabee bamboo & merino wool (my newest socks), SWTC bamboo (DreamSwatch for my friend), KnitPicks Cotlin (I really need to finish my Cables & Os!), Blue Moon Socks That Rock (a couple of heavyweight socks), KnitPicks Panache (a scarf for my (sorta) MIL and one for myself I haven’t photographed yet), and a couple of workhorse yarns – Cascade 220 & Mission Falls 1824 (way too many projects to list)

Goals for this year: I really want to make more sweaters, I have the yarn but I need to get back into it (and finish the 2 I have on the needles – Mr GreyJeans and Cables & Os. The small projects are a nice instant gratification, but I always want more sweaters – especially here. I want to get better at making them (swatch! I must get better at swatching!). Otherwise, more socks (not difficult with my commute and my sock yarn stash) and more cabling. Lace & colour work don’t really interest me all that much and I can’t think of another technique I want to learn. Non knitting goals – lose the weight I’ve really gained over the past year (I know, that’s everyone’s resolution), go back to school, even it it’s only a couple of classes a term (first I want to find something that interests me enough) and, a big one, find ways to make MA feel like home. I miss Portland desperatly and MA, while I love Boston, hasn’t really felt like home for me or CoffeeBoy. I think meeting some people in Lowell itself (Hi Marianne & Amanda!) will help. I realized, when talking to friends back in Portland, I think the major problem we have with MA is that our friends live a bit far away (30-45 minutes) so it’s a bit of a effort to actually get together. I guess we are lucky that CB & I haven’t killed each other yet, since we are only in each other’s company all the time.

I think we’ll be together awhile🙂

Happy New Year to everyone who kept reading this very long post! I have some other long posts I want to get up this weekend too – yarn I bought, FOS I finished – so we’ll see if that happens!🙂

What a fabulous knitting year 2007 was for you!! 68 projects!! Fantastic!! I loved sooooo many of them! And the sock yarn stash…I’m so with you on that!! Your blog was a beautiful enabler🙂 You definately need to find a pretty spot to take some pictures with!

I love you central park hoodie too!! I have the yarn in my stash for it…just need to get a move on it!